Commercial developers building in Roeland Park will now have the option to make a financial contribution for public art instead of incorporating art into their project. Roeland Park’s “1 percent for art” resolution requires business developers to spend 1% of total project costs on art, and previously these funds could only be used for art projects displayed on the development’s property. The resolution change was prompted by a request from Aldi to donate funds for art rather than incorporate an art piece into the $3.6 million teardown/rebuild plans for their store located at 4801 Roe Blvd.
Originally the city thought the donation would be around $60,000 but updated project costs from Aldi’s engineer place the donation closer to $36,000.
City staff recommended the resolution amendment, pointing out it would allow Roeland Park to decide where the art will be displayed and to potentially incorporate the donation in public improvement projects like the Roe 2020 initiative.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)